The present invention relates to a transporting device for depositing sheet material onto a tray, which includes at least two rollers, which can be displaced with respect to each other, and a belt extending between the rollers above the tray.
The present invention furthermore relates to a printer provided with such a transporting device.
The present invention also relates to a method for depositing a sheet material on a tray by means of a transporting device, which uses at least two rollers, which can be displaced with respect to each other while a belt extends between the rollers above the tray.
A transportation device and method found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,003 discloses an endless belt disposed around a relatively large number of rollers, in which two rollers can be displaced with respect to each other. In an initial position a first roller is located relatively close to a second roller, and a first end of sheet material is deposited on the belt extending between the two rollers. From this initial position, the first roller is displaced away from the second roller, whereby the sheet material is supported and transported by said belt. As soon as the first roller reaches a predetermined end position, the first roller is displaced back to the second roller, whereby the sheet material is deposited in the tray.
When the first roller is displaced with respect to the second roller, the endless belt is guided along several deflection rollers, which are movable in a vertical direction for the purpose of equalizing the distance between the first and second rollers as well as for tensioning the belt.
Due to the vertically displaceable rollers, the transportation device has a relatively large height. Furthermore the vertically displaceable rollers make the construction of the transporter relatively complicated.